Faculty Research Areas

As part of the application requirement, neuroSURF students must select a faculty mentor at VTCRI that is actively engaged in neurobiology research. Neurobiology research at VTCRI areas are described below.

Behavioral, Cognitive, and Computational Neuroscience

One unifying theme of the Institute’s research program is based on a simple fact: Fifty percent of all human disease is related to the nervous system. Institute scientists integrate new technologies and foster multidisciplinary thinking to understand how the human brain develops, makes choices, and responds to disease and injury.

Scientists in VTCRI’s Computational Psychiatry Unit, for example, work across disciplines to understand the neural computations involved in human cognition and psychiatric disorders such as depression, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic addiction, and autism spectrum disorders.

With 86 billion neurons and more than 100 trillion synapses in your brain continuously passing information up to 200 miles an hour, your brain is right to believe it’s your most important organ. The connections in the brain need to develop correctly, and damaged or improperly formed connections can lead to neurological disorders.

Scientists at VTCRI study how neurons and other cells in the brain form, what happens if they’re damaged, and how to restore them in the damaged or diseased brain. Researchers work across disciplines to understand the mechanisms of cellular, molecular, and developmental neurobiology, and innovate therapeutic interventions for disorders such as traumatic brain injury, neurodevelopmental disorders, psychiatric disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, muscular dystrophy, and spinal muscular atrophy.

Glial cells are the brain’s most abundant cell type. At the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, scientists investigate the mechanisms underlying glial cell function in health, normal brain development, and disease, including brain tumors. Researchers can use this new found information to develop interventions and therapeutics for poor glial health.

Like cells in any tissue, brain cells can become infected by viruses and bacteria or can become cancerous. Scientists at the institute are studying the mechanisms of infection, immunity, and cancer in order to better understand how to protect human health.